Natural gas futures may be mired in a narrow range, but prices continue to edge upward. On Tuesday, the prompt month got a boost from falling production levels in the Permian Basin, a development that brought total output below the 100 Bcf/d level — a rare occurrence late in the summer of 2023.

Spot Prices

The October Nymex gas futures contract rose 13.5 cents day/day and closed at $2.743/MMBtu. It marked a fourth consecutive gain, though previous advances were modest.  

NGI’s Spot Gas National Avg. advanced 7.5 cents to $2.490.

Production on Tuesday declined to about 95.4 Bcf/d, according to Bloomberg’s estimate. That left output far from summer highs above 102 Bcf/d. EBW Analytics Group cited lighter Permian volumes amid regional pipeline maintenance.

“The appearance of...